Reference signal processing method, network device, and terminal device

ABSTRACT

A measurement configuration method, includes receiving measurement trigger information comprising event trigger information or periodic measurement configuration information, and one or a combination of the following information: a measurement quantity (M) that needs to be reported and a measurement quantity (T) for triggering a measurement event; and sorting and reporting beams in a cell based on the measurement quantity (M) that needs to be reported or the measurement quantity (T) for triggering a measurement event.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2018/115830, filed on Nov. 16, 2018, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 201711140824.9, filed on Nov. 16, 2017.The disclosures of the aforementioned applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the field of communications technologies,and in particular, to a reference signal processing method, a networkdevice, and a terminal device.

BACKGROUND

Currently, in discussion about a 5th generation (5G) mobilecommunications technology, there are two types of reference signals:synchronization signals (SS), and channel state information-referencesignals (CSI-RS). The SS is a synchronization signal of a cell, and UEmay obtain measurement quality of the cell based on measurement of thesynchronization signal. The CSI-RS is a reference signal configured forUE, and the UE may also obtain quality of a cell based on measurement ofthe CSI-RS.

In a 5G system, when a synchronization signal is sent, high-frequencymulti-beam transmission needs to be considered. There is asynchronization signal set periodicity for synchronization signalsending. One synchronization signal set periodicity includes a pluralityof synchronization signal bursts, and each synchronization signal burstincludes a plurality of synchronization signal blocks. When a pluralityof beams need to be sent in a cell, one beam may be sent in eachsynchronization signal block, and all beams are completely sent in onesynchronization signal set periodicity.

After a transmit end sends a synchronization signal, UE in an idle modemay perform measurement based on the SS, and UE in a connected mode mayalso perform measurement based on the SS. In addition to performing themeasurement based on the SS, the UE in the connected mode may alsoperform measurement based on a CSI-RS. However, to measure the CSI-RS,the UE needs to obtain synchronization information of a cell first.Otherwise, it is impossible to learn an occurrence location of theCSI-RS, and measurement of the CSI-RS fails.

In the current system, when user equipment (UE) performs inter-frequencymeasurement, a measurement gap needs to be configured. In themeasurement gap, the following configuration is needed: a currentworking frequency is in an interrupt state. For UE that does not supportworking on two frequencies at the same time, if the UE needs to performmeasurement on a non-working frequency, a working frequency needs to beinterrupted, and then a target frequency is measured within themeasurement gap of the UE. For example, the measurement gap may be 6milliseconds (ms), and an occurrence period may be set to 40 ms, 80 ms,and the like. That is, every 40 ms or 800 ms, the UE can interrupt acurrent cell for 6 ms, to measure the target frequency. The UE canmeasure a reference signal of any bandwidth part (BWP) in themeasurement gap without being limited by an active BWP.

It can be learned from the foregoing analysis that in the currentsystem, measurement gaps occur periodically, but in each measurementgap, ongoing data receiving and sending of UE need to be interrupted,thereby affecting the data transmission of the UE.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of this application provide a reference signal processingmethod, a network device, and a terminal device, to optimize measurementtechnologies.

To resolve the foregoing technical problem, the following technicalsolutions are provided in the embodiments of this application.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa reference signal processing method, including: determining, by anetwork device, a to-be-measured reference signal configured for aterminal device and at least one bandwidth part BWP configured for theterminal device, where a frequency domain location of the referencesignal is within a bandwidth range of the at least one BWP; generating,by the network device, reference signal configuration information basedon the to-be-measured reference signal, and generating BWP configurationinformation based on the at least one BWP; and sending, by the networkdevice, the reference signal configuration information and the BWPconfiguration information to the terminal device.

In some embodiments of this application, the network device determinesthe to-be-measured reference signal configured for the terminal deviceand the at least one BWP configured for the terminal device, where thefrequency domain location of the reference signal is within thebandwidth range of the at least one BWP; the network device generatesthe reference signal configuration information based on theto-be-measured reference signal, and generates the BWP configurationinformation based on the at least one BWP; and the network device sendsthe reference signal configuration information and the BWP configurationinformation to the terminal device. In this embodiment of thisapplication, the network device may send the reference signalconfiguration information and the BWP configuration information to theterminal device, so that the terminal device may parse the referencesignal configuration information and the BWP configuration information,and obtain quality of a cell based on the reference signal. Therefore,in this embodiment of this application, the reference signal can bemeasured without starting a measurement gap, thereby reducing activationof the measurement gap and reducing data receiving and sending of theterminal device.

In a possible design of the first aspect of this application, the methodfurther includes: determining, by the network device, a period of afirst gap and an offset of the first gap that are configured for theterminal device, where the first gap is used by the network device tosend the reference signal; and sending, by the network device, gapconfiguration information to the terminal device, where the gapconfiguration information includes the period of the first gap and theoffset of the first gap. In this embodiment of this application, theperiod of the first gap and the offset of the first gap may be used tocalculate duration of the first gap each time. After the network devicegenerates the gap configuration information, the network device mayfurther send the gap configuration information to the terminal device,so that the terminal device may receive the gap configurationinformation from the network device. After parsing the gap configurationinformation, the terminal device can determine the period and the offsetthat are configured by the network device for the first gap.

In a possible design of the first aspect of this application, the methodfurther includes: calculating, by the network device, a start time ofthe first gap based on the period of the first gap and the offset of thefirst gap; calculating, by the network device, duration of the first gapbased on the start time of the first gap and a length of the first gap;determining, by the network device, whether the frequency domainlocation of the reference signal is within a bandwidth range of anactive BWP in the duration of the first gap; and if the frequency domainlocation of the reference signal is within the bandwidth range of theactive BWP in the duration of the first gap, determining, by the networkdevice, to deactivate the first gap. In this embodiment of thisapplication, after the network device determines the duration of thefirst gap, the network device may determine whether the frequency domainlocation of the reference signal is within the bandwidth range of theactive BWP in the duration of the first gap, and if the frequency domainlocation of the reference signal is within the bandwidth range of theactive BWP in the duration of the first gap, the network devicedetermines to deactivate the first gap. If the first gap is deactivated,the first gap does not need to be restarted, thereby reducing a gapstart time.

In a possible design of the first aspect of this application, thereference signal configuration information includes at least one of thefollowing parameters: a type parameter of the reference signal, a periodparameter of the reference signal, and a frequency domain locationparameter of the reference signal. The type parameter of the referencesignal may indicate that the reference signal is an SS or a CSI-RS, theperiod parameter of the reference signal is used to indicate a sendingperiod of the reference signal, and the frequency domain locationparameter of the reference signal is used to indicate a frequency domainlocation at which the reference signal is sent to the terminal device.

In a possible design of the first aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information includes: frequency information of the atleast one BWP and bandwidth information of the at least one BWP. The BWPconfigured by the network device for the terminal device may beindicated by a frequency and bandwidth of the BWP. Specifically, thenetwork device may configure a BWP set for the terminal device, and theBWP set includes one or more pieces of BWP configuration information.The at least one BWP includes a corresponding reference signal, and thereference signal is an SS or a CSI-RS.

In a possible design of the first aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information includes a correspondence between thereference signal and the at least one BWP. The network device mayindicate a correspondence between a reference signal and at least oneBWP to the terminal device by using the BWP configuration information.Therefore, the terminal device may determine, based on the BWPconfiguration information, a reference signal corresponding to each BWP.

In a possible design of the first aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information includes activation time information of theBWP; and the activation time information of the BWP includes at leastone of the following parameters: an activation time period of the atleast one BWP and an activation time offset of the at least one BWP. Anactivation time of the BWP occurs based on the activation time period,and the activation time offset is an offset of the activation time ofthe BWP. The activation time period and the activation time offset maybe used to calculate activation duration of the BWP each time.

In a possible design of the first aspect of this application, the methodfurther includes: calculating, by the network device, a start time ofthe at least one BWP based on the activation time period of the at leastone BWP and the activation time offset of the at least one BWP; anddetermining, by the network device, activation duration of the at leastone BWP based on the start time of the at least one BWP and anactivation time length of the at least one BWP, where the activationduration of the at least one BWP is used for data transmission betweenthe network device and the terminal device. In this embodiment of thisapplication, the BWP configuration information may further includeinformation about the activation time length of the at least one BWP.The network device may determine the activation duration of the at leastone BWP based on the start time of the at least one BWP and theactivation time length of the at least one BWP, where the activationduration of the at least one BWP is used for the data transmissionbetween the network device and the terminal device.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of this application furtherprovides a reference signal processing method, including: obtaining, bya terminal device, reference signal configuration information andbandwidth part BWP configuration information that are sent by a networkdevice; determining, by the terminal device, a to-be-measured referencesignal based on the reference signal configuration information, anddetermining, based on the BWP configuration information, a BWPconfigured for the terminal device; and obtaining, by the terminaldevice, quality of a cell based on the reference signal, where the BWPconfigured for the terminal device belongs to the cell.

In other embodiments of this application, the terminal device obtainsthe reference signal configuration information and the BWP configurationinformation that are sent by the network device; the terminal devicedetermines the to-be-measured reference signal based on the referencesignal configuration information, and determines, based on the BWPconfiguration information, the BWP configured for the terminal device;and the terminal device obtains the quality of the cell based on thereference signal, where the BWP configured for the terminal devicebelongs to the cell. Because the terminal device can parse the referencesignal configuration information and the BWP configuration information,the terminal device can obtain the quality of the cell based on thereference signal. Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, thereference signal can be measured without starting a measurement gap,thereby reducing activation of the measurement gap and reducing datareceiving and sending of the terminal device.

In a possible design of the second aspect of this application, themethod further includes: obtaining, by the terminal device, gapconfiguration information sent by the network device, where the gapconfiguration information includes period information of a first gap andoffset information of the first gap; and determining, by the terminaldevice, duration of the first gap based on the period information of thefirst gap and the offset information of the first gap. The first gap mayoccur based on a time period, and the offset of the first gap is anoffset of an occurrence time of the first gap. The period of the firstgap and the offset of the first gap may be used to calculate duration ofthe first gap each time. The terminal device may receive the gapconfiguration information from the network device. After parsing the gapconfiguration information, the terminal device can determine the periodand the offset that are configured by the network device for the firstgap.

In a possible design of the second aspect of this application, theobtaining, by the terminal device, quality of a cell based on thereference signal includes: determining, by the terminal device, anactive BWP, where the active BWP is one or more BWPs in BWPs configuredfor the terminal device; after the terminal device determines theduration of the first gap, determining, by the terminal device, whethera frequency domain location of the reference signal is within abandwidth range of the active BWP; and if the frequency domain locationof the reference signal is within the bandwidth range of the active BWP,deactivating, by the terminal device, the first gap, and obtaining thequality of the cell based on the reference signal corresponding to theactive BWP. The terminal device may first determine the BWP activated bythe network device, and then after the terminal device calculates theduration of the first gap by performing the foregoing steps, theterminal device determines whether the frequency domain location of thereference signal is within the bandwidth range of the active BWP. If thefrequency domain location of the reference signal is within thebandwidth range of the active BWP, it indicates that the terminal devicecan obtain, without using the first gap, the quality of the cellcorresponding to the reference signal. In this case, the terminal devicemay deactivate the first gap. In this embodiment of this application,the terminal device may determine the active BWP, thereby reducing a gapstart time. Therefore, a data transmission interruption between thenetwork device and the terminal device is reduced.

In a possible design of the second aspect of this application, after thedetermining, by the terminal device, whether a frequency domain locationof the reference signal is within a bandwidth range of the active BWP,the method further includes: if the frequency domain location of thereference signal is not within the bandwidth range of the active BWP,activating, by the terminal device, the first gap, and obtaining thequality of the cell that is in the activated first gap and thatcorresponds to the reference signal. If the frequency domain location ofthe reference signal is not within the bandwidth range of the activeBWP, it indicates that the reference signal is not within the bandwidthrange of the active BWP. In this case, the foregoing first gap isrequired. After the first gap is activated, the terminal device mayobtain the quality of the cell that is in the activated first gap andthat corresponds to the reference signal. In this embodiment of thisapplication, the terminal device may activate the first gap, therebyobtaining the quality of the cell in the first gap.

In a possible design of the second aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information further includes activation time informationof the BWP, and the activation time information of the BWP includes anactivation time period of the BWP configured for the terminal device andan activation time offset of the BWP configured for the terminal device;and the obtaining, by the terminal device, quality of a cell based onthe reference signal, includes: determining, by the terminal devicebased on the activation time period of the BWP configured for theterminal device and the activation time offset of the BWP configured forthe terminal device, a start time of the BWP configured for the terminaldevice; and obtaining, by the terminal device from the start time of theBWP configured for the terminal device, the quality of the cell that isin an activation time length configured for the terminal device and thatcorresponds to the reference signal.

In a possible design of the second aspect of this application, theactivation time length is included in the activation time information ofthe BWP, or the activation time length is locally configured by theterminal device. The BWP configuration information may further includeinformation about the activation time length of the at least one BWP.The terminal device may determine the activation duration of the atleast one BWP based on the start time of the at least one BWP and theactivation time length of the at least one BWP, where the activationduration of the at least one BWP is used for data transmission betweenthe terminal device and the network device.

In a possible design of the second aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information further includes: a quantity of BWPs is N, Nis greater than or equal to 2, and bandwidth of each of the N BWPsincludes a configured to-be-measured reference signal; and theobtaining, by the terminal device, quality of a cell based on thereference signal includes: obtaining, by the terminal device in ameasurement period, M sampling results corresponding to a referencesignal within a bandwidth range of a BWP activated at a sampling moment,where M is a positive integer; and calculating, by the terminal device,the quality of the cell based on the M sampling results. The terminaldevice may obtain, in the measurement period, a plurality of samplingresults of reference signals corresponding to a plurality of BWPs, andthe terminal device may use the sampling results of the plurality ofBWPs as the quality of the cell. Therefore, the terminal device canimplement measurement of the quality of the cell without starting thegap.

In a possible design of the second aspect of this application, thecalculating, by the terminal device, the quality of the cell based onthe M sampling results includes: extracting, by the terminal device, Hsampling results from the M sampling results, where H is less than M,the H sampling results are sampling results obtained by sampling areference signal corresponding to a first BWP, and the first BWP is adefault BWP or an initial BWP; and calculating, by the terminal device,the quality of the cell based on the H sampling results. The default BWPis a BWP returned by the terminal device within a particular period oftime after the data transmission ends, and the initial BWP is a BWP usedwhen the terminal device is in initial access. The quality of the cell,calculated based on the H sampling results corresponding to the defaultBWP or the initial BWP, can better indicate real signal quality of aserving cell, thereby improving calculation accuracy of the quality ofthe cell.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa network device, including: a processing module, configured todetermine a to-be-measured reference signal configured for a terminaldevice and at least one bandwidth part BWP configured for the terminaldevice, where a frequency domain location of the reference signal iswithin a bandwidth range of the at least one BWP, where the processingmodule is further configured to generate reference signal configurationinformation based on the to-be-measured reference signal, and generateBWP configuration information based on the at least one BWP; and asending module, configured to send the reference signal configurationinformation and the BWP configuration information to the terminaldevice.

In a possible design of the third aspect of this application, theprocessing module is further configured to determine a period of a firstgap and an offset of the first gap that are configured for the terminaldevice, where the first gap is used by the network device to send thereference signal; and the sending module is further configured to sendgap configuration information to the terminal device, where the gapconfiguration information includes the period of the first gap and theoffset of the first gap.

In a possible design of the third aspect of this application, theprocessing module is configured to: calculate a start time of the firstgap based on the period of the first gap and the offset of the firstgap; calculate duration of the first gap based on the start time of thefirst gap and a length of the first gap; determine whether the frequencydomain location of the reference signal is within a bandwidth range ofan active BWP in the duration of the first gap; and if the frequencydomain location of the reference signal is within the bandwidth range ofthe active BWP in the duration of the first gap, determine to deactivatethe first gap.

In a possible design of the third aspect of this application, thereference signal configuration information includes at least one of thefollowing parameters: a type parameter of the reference signal, a periodparameter of the reference signal, and a frequency domain locationparameter of the reference signal.

In a possible design of the third aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information includes: frequency information of the atleast one BWP and bandwidth information of the at least one BWP.

In a possible design of the third aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information includes a correspondence between thereference signal and the at least one BWP.

In a possible design of the third aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information includes activation time information of theBWP; and the activation time information of the BWP includes at leastone of the following parameters: an activation time period of the atleast one BWP and an activation time offset of the at least one BWP.

In a possible design of the third aspect of this application, theprocessing module is further configured to calculate a start time of theat least one BWP based on the activation time period of the at least oneBWP and the activation time offset of the at least one BWP; and theprocessing module is further configured to determine activation durationof the at least one BWP based on the start time of the at least one BWPand an activation time length of the at least one BWP, where theactivation duration of the at least one BWP is used for datatransmission between the network device and the terminal device.

In the third aspect of this application, the component modules of thenetwork device may also perform the steps described in the first aspectand various possible designs. For details, refer to descriptions in thefirst aspect and the various possible designs.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of this application furtherprovides a terminal device. The terminal device includes: a receivingmodule, configured to obtain reference signal configuration informationand bandwidth part BWP configuration information that are sent by anetwork device; and a processing module, configured to determine ato-be-measured reference signal based on the reference signalconfiguration information, and determine, based on the BWP configurationinformation, a BWP configured for the terminal device, where theprocessing module is configured to obtain quality of a cell based on thereference signal, where the BWP configured for the terminal devicebelongs to the cell.

In a possible design of the fourth aspect of this application, thereceiving module is further configured to obtain gap configurationinformation sent by the network device, where the gap configurationinformation includes period information of a first gap and offsetinformation of the first gap; and the processing module is furtherconfigured to determine duration of the first gap based on the periodinformation of the first gap and the offset information of the firstgap.

In a possible design of the fourth aspect of this application, theprocessing module is configured to: determine an active BWP, where theactive BWP is one or more BWPs in BWPs configured for the terminaldevice; after the terminal device determines the duration of the firstgap, determine whether a frequency domain location of the referencesignal is within a bandwidth range of the active BWP; and if thefrequency domain location of the reference signal is within thebandwidth range of the active BWP, deactivate the first gap, and obtainthe quality of the cell based on the reference signal corresponding tothe active BWP.

In a possible design of the fourth aspect of this application, afterdetermining whether the frequency domain location of the referencesignal is within the bandwidth range of the active BWP, the processingmodule is configured to: if the frequency domain location of thereference signal is not within the bandwidth range of the active BWP,activate the first gap; and obtain the quality of the cell that is inthe activated first gap and that corresponds to the reference signal.

In a possible design of the fourth aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information further includes activation time informationof the BWP, and the activation time information of the BWP includes anactivation time period of the BWP configured for the terminal device andan activation time offset of the BWP configured for the terminal device;and the processing module is configured to: determine, based on theactivation time period of the BWP configured for the terminal device andthe activation time offset of the BWP configured for the terminaldevice, a start time of the BWP configured for the terminal device; andobtain, from the start time of the BWP configured for the terminaldevice, the quality of the cell that is in an activation time lengthconfigured for the terminal device and that corresponds to the referencesignal.

In a possible design of the fourth aspect of this application, theactivation time length is included in the activation time information ofthe BWP, or the activation time length is locally configured by theterminal device.

In a possible design of the fourth aspect of this application, the BWPconfiguration information further includes: a quantity of BWPs is N, Nis greater than or equal to 2, and bandwidth of each of the N BWPsincludes a configured to-be-measured reference signal; the processingmodule is specifically configured to: obtain, in a measurement period, Msampling results corresponding to a reference signal within a bandwidthrange of a BWP activated at a sampling moment, where M is a positiveinteger; and calculate the quality of the cell based on the M samplingresults.

In a possible design of the fourth aspect of this application, theprocessing module is configured to: extract H sampling results from theM sampling results, where H is less than M, the H sampling results aresampling results obtained by sampling a reference signal correspondingto a first BWP, and the first BWP is a default BWP or an initial BWP;and calculate the quality of the cell based on the H sampling results.

In the fourth aspect of this application, the component modules of theterminal device may also perform the steps described in the secondaspect and various possible designs. For details, refer to descriptionsin the second aspect and the various possible designs.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa network device. The network device includes: a processor and a memory,where the memory is configured to store an instruction; and theprocessor is configured to execute the instruction in the memory, sothat the network device performs the method according to any one of thefirst aspect or the possible designs of the first aspect.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa terminal device. The terminal device includes: a processor and amemory, where the memory is configured to store an instruction; and theprocessor is configured to execute the instruction in the memory, sothat the terminal device performs the method according to any one of thesecond aspect or the possible designs of the second aspect.

According to a seventh aspect, this application provides a chip system.The chip system includes a processor, configured to support a networkdevice or a terminal device in implementing functions in the foregoingaspects, for example, to send or process data and/or information in theforegoing methods. In a possible design, the chip system furtherincludes a memory, and the memory is configured to store a programinstruction and data that are necessary for the network device or theterminal device. The chip system may include a chip, or may include achip and another discrete device.

According to an eighth aspect, this application provides a computerreadable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium stores aninstruction. When the instruction runs on a computer, the computerperforms the methods described in the foregoing aspects.

According to a ninth aspect, this application provides a computerprogram product including an instruction. When the instruction runs on acomputer, the computer performs the methods described in the foregoingaspects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic architectural diagram of a system to which areference signal processing method is applied according to an embodimentof this application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block flowchart of a reference signal processingmethod according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block flowchart of another reference signalprocessing method according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a BWP implementation according to anembodiment of this application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a reference signal configuration manneraccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another reference signal configurationmanner according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of still another reference signalconfiguration manner according to an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of yet another reference signalconfiguration manner according to an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device accordingto an embodiment of this application;

FIG. to is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device accordingto an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another network deviceaccording to an embodiment of this application; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal deviceaccording to an embodiment of this application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of this application provide a reference signal processingmethod, a network device, and a terminal device, to optimize measurementtechnologies.

The following describes the embodiments of this application withreference to the accompanying drawings.

In the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of thisapplication, the terms “first”, “second”, and so on are intended todistinguish between similar objects but do not necessarily indicate aspecific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms usedin such a way are interchangeable in proper circumstances, which ismerely a discrimination manner that is used when objects having a sameattribute are described in the embodiments of this application. Inaddition, the terms “include”, “contain” and any other variants mean tocover a non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, system,product, or device that includes a series of units is not necessarilylimited to those units, but may include other units not expressly listedor inherent to such a process, method, system, product, or device.

Technologies described in this application may be applied to a long termevolution (LTE for short) system, or another wireless communicationssystem using various radio access technologies, for example, a systemusing an access technology such as code division multiple access,frequency division multiple access, time division multiple access,orthogonal frequency division multiple access, or single carrierfrequency division multiple access. In addition, the technologies may befurther applied to a subsequent evolved system of the LTE system, suchas a 5th generation 5G (5G) system, including a new radio (NR) system,an evolved LTE system, or the like.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a system according to anembodiment of this application. The system may include a network deviceand a terminal device, where there may be one or more terminal devices.The terminal device in this application may include a handheld device,an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, or a computing device thatprovides a wireless communication function; another processing deviceconnected to a wireless modem; or user equipment (UE) in various forms,including a mobile station (MS), a terminal, a terminal device, and thelike. For ease of description, in this application, the devicesmentioned above are collectively referred to as user equipment or UE.The network device in this application may include a base station (BSfor short), and the network device is an apparatus deployed in a radioaccess network to provide the UE with a wireless communication function.The base station may include a macro base station, a micro base station,a relay station, an access point, and the like in various forms. Insystems that use different radio access technologies, a device having abase station function may have different names. For example, the deviceis referred to as an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB for short) in an LTEsystem, referred to as a gNB in an NR system, referred to as a NodeB ina 3rd generation 3G system, or the like.

The following provides examples to describe a reference signalprocessing method from the perspective of a network device and aterminal device respectively. First, description is made from theperspective of the network device. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of areference signal processing method in this application. The method mayinclude the following steps.

201. The network device determines a to-be-measured reference signalconfigured for the terminal device and at least one BWP configured forthe terminal device, where a frequency domain location of the referencesignal is within a bandwidth range of the at least one BWP.

In this embodiment of this application, the network device may configurethe reference signal for the terminal device, where the reference signalspecifically includes: a synchronization signal (SS) or a channel stateinformation-reference symbol (CSI-RS). The SS is a synchronizationsignal of a cell, and UE may obtain measurement quality of the cellbased on measurement of the synchronization signal. The CSI-RS is areference signal configured for UE, and the UE may alternatively obtainquality of a cell based on measurement of the CSI-RS. In addition toconfiguring the reference signal for the terminal device, the networkdevice may configure at least one BWP for the terminal device. Forexample, the network device may configure one BWP for the terminaldevice, or the network device configures a plurality of BWPs for theterminal device.

A BWP may be a part of bandwidth of a cell, and the network device mayperform such configuration that the terminal device works on the atleast one BWP, at least one of the at least one BWP is active, and theactive BWP may be used for data transmission between the network deviceand the terminal device.

In this embodiment of this application, the network device determinesthe reference signal and the at least one BWP for the terminal device,where the frequency domain location of the reference signal is withinthe bandwidth range of the at least one BWP. In other words, thebandwidth range of the at least one BWP includes a sending frequencydomain location of the reference signal.

202. The network device generates reference signal configurationinformation based on the to-be-measured reference signal, and generatesBWP configuration information based on the at least one BWP.

In this embodiment of this application, after the network devicedetermines the reference signal and the at least one BWP for theterminal device, the network device may generate the reference signalconfiguration information based on the determined reference signal,where the reference signal configuration information includesinformation about the reference signal configured by the network devicefor the terminal device. The network device may further generate the BWPconfiguration information based on the determined at least one BWP,where the BWP configuration information includes information of the BWPconfigured by the network device for the terminal device.

In some embodiments of this application, the reference signalconfiguration information generated by the network device for theterminal device includes at least one of the following parameters: atype parameter of the reference signal, a period parameter of thereference signal, and a frequency domain location parameter of thereference signal. The type parameter of the reference signal mayindicate that the reference signal is an SS or a CSI-RS, the periodparameter of the reference signal is used to indicate a sending periodof the reference signal, and the frequency domain location parameter ofthe reference signal is used to indicate a frequency domain location atwhich the reference signal is sent to the terminal device.

In some embodiments of this application, the BWP configurationinformation generated by the network device for the terminal deviceincludes: frequency information of the at least one BWP and bandwidthinformation of the at least one BWP. The BWP configured by the networkdevice for the terminal device may be indicated by a frequency andbandwidth of the BWP. Specifically, the network device may configure aBWP set for the terminal device, and the BWP set includes one or morepieces of BWP configuration information. The at least one BWP includes acorresponding reference signal, and the reference signal is an SS or aCSI-RS.

Further, in some embodiments of this application, the BWP configurationinformation generated by the network device includes a correspondencebetween the reference signal and the at least one BWP. The networkdevice may indicate a correspondence between a reference signal and atleast one BWP to the terminal device by using the BWP configurationinformation. Therefore, the terminal device may determine, based on theBWP configuration information, a reference signal corresponding to eachBWP.

In this embodiment of this application, it can be learned based on theforegoing description of the BWP that after the network deviceconfigures the BWP for the terminal device, the network device needs toactivate one or more BWPs, so that the activated BWP can be used fordata transmission between the network device and the terminal device. Insome embodiments of this application, the BWP configuration informationgenerated by the network device may further include activation timeinformation of the BWP. The activation time information of the BWP mayinclude at least one of the following parameters: an activation timeperiod of the at least one BWP and an activation time offset of the atleast one BWP. An activation time of the BWP occurs based on theactivation time period, and the activation time offset is an offset ofthe activation time of the BWP. The activation time period and theactivation time offset may be used to calculate activation duration ofthe BWP each time.

203. The network device sends the reference signal configurationinformation and the BWP configuration information to the terminaldevice.

In this embodiment of this application, after the network devicegenerates the reference signal configuration information and the BWPconfiguration information for the terminal device in the foregoing step202, the network device may send the reference signal configurationinformation and the BWP configuration information to the terminaldevice, so that the terminal device may receive the reference signalconfiguration information and the BWP configuration information from thenetwork device. After parsing the reference signal configurationinformation and the BWP configuration information, the terminal devicecan determine content of the reference signal and content of the BWPthat are configured by the network device. The network device may addthe reference signal configuration information and the BWP configurationinformation to same control signaling, and send the control signaling tothe terminal device. Alternatively, the network device may add thereference signal configuration information and the BWP configurationinformation to two different pieces of control signaling respectively,and send the control signaling to the terminal device. No limitation isimposed herein. The control signaling used by the network device may behigher layer signaling.

In some embodiments of this application, in addition to performing theforegoing steps, the reference signal processing method provided in thisembodiment of this application may include the following stepsconfiguring, by the network device, a period of a first gap and anoffset of the first gap for the terminal device, where the first gap isused by the network device to send the reference signal; and sending, bythe network device, gap configuration information to the terminaldevice, where the gap configuration information includes the period ofthe first gap and the offset of the first gap.

The network device may further configure the first gap used by thenetwork device to send the reference signal, where the first gap may bea gap that occurs periodically. The network device may configure theperiod of the first gap and the offset of the first gap. The first gapmay occur based on a time period, and the offset of the first gap is anoffset of an occurrence time of the first gap. The period of the firstgap and the offset of the first gap may be used to calculate duration ofthe first gap each time. After the network device generates the gapconfiguration information, the network device may further send the gapconfiguration information to the terminal device, so that the terminaldevice may receive the gap configuration information from the networkdevice. After parsing the gap configuration information, the terminaldevice can determine the period and the offset that are configured bythe network device for the first gap.

In some embodiments of this application, in addition to performing theforegoing steps, the reference signal processing method provided in thisembodiment of this application may include the following steps:calculating, by the network device, a start time of the first gap(English: GAP) based on the period of the first gap and the offset ofthe first gap; calculating, by the network device, duration of the firstgap based on the start time of the first gap and a length of the firstgap; determining, by the network device, whether the frequency domainlocation of the reference signal is within a bandwidth range of anactive BWP in the duration of the first gap; and if the frequency domainlocation of the reference signal is within the bandwidth range of theactive BWP in the duration of the first gap, determining, by the networkdevice, to deactivate the first gap.

The deactivating the first gap may include: skipping starting, in theduration corresponding to the first gap, an operation performed by theterminal device during the measurement gap, and normally performing adata receiving and sending operation on a current serving cell.

The first gap occurs periodically, and the period and the offset of thefirst gap can be used together to calculate time information of thefirst gap. Specifically, the time information of the first gap may bedirectly calculated according to the following formula:SFN 1 mod T1=FLOOR(gapOffset/10)  (Formula 1)

A frame that satisfies the system frame number (System Frame Number,SFN) 1 in formula 1 may be determined as a frame of the first gap. Informula 1, SFN represents a frame number at which a measurement gapstarts. Because the time information of the first gap is calculated, SFN1 represents a start frame number of the first gap. T1 represents aperiod of the first gap, gapOffset represents an offset of the firstgap, FLOOR( ) represents a round-down operation, and mod represents amodulo operation, that is, a remainder operation. Formula 1 is used tocalculate the start frame number of the first gap. To make a calculationresult more accurate to obtain a location of a start subframe, thefollowing formula may also be used in this embodiment of thisapplication:Subframe 1=gapOffset mod 10  (Formula 2)

In formula 2, subframe 1 represents a start subframe number of the firstgap. Therefore, by using formula 1 and formula 2, the network device maycalculate the start frame number and subframe numbers of the first gap,thereby determining the start time of the first gap more accurately.

After the start time of the first gap is obtained, the network devicemay further calculate the duration of the first gap based on the starttime of the first gap and the length of the first gap. For example, thenetwork device determines the duration of the first gap based on thestart time of the first gap and the time length of the first gap, wherethe length of the first gap may be a fixed length, for example, 6milliseconds (ms), or a length configured by the network device, forexample, 3 ms.

In some embodiments of this application, after the network devicedetermines the duration of the first gap, the network device maydetermine whether the frequency domain location of the reference signalis within the bandwidth range of the active BWP in the duration of thefirst gap, and if the frequency domain location of the reference signalis within the bandwidth range of the active BWP in the duration of thefirst gap, the network device determines to deactivate the first gap. Ifthe first gap is deactivated, the first gap does not need to berestarted, thereby reducing a gap start time.

In some embodiments of this application, in addition to performing theforegoing steps, the reference signal processing method provided in thisembodiment of this application may include the following steps:calculating, by the network device, a start time of the at least one BWPbased on the activation time period of the at least one BWP and theactivation time offset of the at least one BWP; and determining, by thenetwork device, activation duration of the at least one BWP based on thestart time of the at least one BWP and an activation time length of theat least one BWP, where the activation duration of the at least one BWPis used for data transmission between the network device and theterminal device.

The network device may also activate the BWP for the terminal device,and the network device sends the activation time information of the BWPto the terminal device. The activation time information of the BWP mayinclude at least one of the following parameters: an activation timeperiod of the at least one BWP and an activation time offset of the atleast one BWP. An activation time of the at least one BWP occursperiodically, and the activation time period and the activation timeoffset can be used together to calculate the activation time of the atleast one BWP. Specifically, a start time of the activation time may becalculated according to the following formula 3:SFN 2 mod T2=FLOOR(timeoffset/10)  (Formula 3)

In formula 3, a frame in which the activation time of the BWP occurs canbe determined by using SFN 2. In formula 3, SFN 2 represents the startframe number of the activation time, T2 represents the activation timeperiod, the activation time offset is represented by timeoffset, FLOOR() represents a round-down operation, and mod represents a modulooperation, that is, a remainder operation. Formula 3 is used tocalculate the start frame number of the activation time. To make acalculation result more accurate to obtain a location of a startsubframe, the following formula 4 may also be used in this embodiment ofthis application:Subframe 2=timeoffset mod 10  (Formula 4)

In formula 4, subframe 2 represents a start subframe number of theactivation time of the BWP. Therefore, by using formula 3 and formula 4,the start frame number and the start subframe number that are of theactivation time of the BWP can be calculated, thereby determiningactivation time information of the BWP more accurately.

In some embodiments of this application, the BWP configurationinformation may further include information about the activation timelength of the at least one BWP. The network device may determine theactivation duration of the at least one BWP based on the start time ofthe at least one BWP and the activation time length of the at least oneBWP, where the activation duration of the at least one BWP is used forthe data transmission between the network device and the terminaldevice.

It can be learned from description of examples in this application inthe foregoing embodiments that the network device determines theto-be-measured reference signal configured for the terminal device andthe at least one BWP configured for the terminal device, where thefrequency domain location of the reference signal is within thebandwidth range of the at least one BWP; the network device generatesthe reference signal configuration information based on theto-be-measured reference signal, and generates the BWP configurationinformation based on the at least one BWP; and the network device sendsthe reference signal configuration information and the BWP configurationinformation to the terminal device. In this embodiment of thisapplication, the network device may send the reference signalconfiguration information and the BWP configuration information to theterminal device, so that the terminal device may parse the referencesignal configuration information and the BWP configuration information,and obtain quality of a cell based on the reference signal. Therefore,in this embodiment of this application, the reference signal can bemeasured without starting a measurement gap, thereby reducing activationof the measurement gap and reducing data receiving and sending of theterminal device.

The foregoing embodiment describes the reference signal processingmethod provided in the embodiments of this application from a networkdevice side, and the following describes the reference signal processingmethod provided in the embodiments of this application from a terminaldevice side. As shown in FIG. 3, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a reference signal processing method, mainly including thefollowing steps.

301. A terminal device obtains reference signal configurationinformation and bandwidth part BWP configuration information that aresent by a network device.

In this embodiment of this application, the network device may send thereference signal configuration information and the BWP configurationinformation to the terminal device, and the terminal device may receivethe reference signal configuration information and the BWP configurationinformation from the network device. For example, the terminal devicemay receive the reference signal configuration information and the BWPconfiguration information by using a wireless network. The networkdevice may add the reference signal configuration information and theBWP configuration information to same control signaling, and send thecontrol signaling to the terminal device. Alternatively, the networkdevice may add the reference signal configuration information and theBWP configuration information to two different pieces of controlsignaling respectively, and send the control signaling to the terminaldevice. No limitation is imposed herein. The control signaling used bythe network device may be higher layer signaling.

302. The terminal device determines a to-be-measured reference signalbased on the reference signal configuration information, and determines,based on the BWP configuration information, a BWP configured for theterminal device.

In this embodiment of this application, after the terminal devicereceives the reference signal configuration information and the BWPconfiguration information from the network device, the terminal devicemay parse the reference signal configuration information and the BWPconfiguration information, and the terminal device may determine contentof the reference signal and content of the BWP that are configured bythe network device. For example, the terminal device determines, byparsing the reference signal configuration information, theto-be-measured reference signal configured by the network device for theterminal device, and the terminal device determines, by parsing the BWPconfiguration information, the BWP configured by the network device forthe terminal device.

303. The terminal device obtains quality of a cell based on thereference signal, where the BWP configured for the terminal devicebelongs to the cell.

In this embodiment of this application, the terminal device maydetermine, by performing the foregoing step 302, the BWP configured bythe network device for the terminal device, and the terminal device mayfurther determine the configuration of the reference signal by thenetwork device. Therefore, the terminal device may obtain the quality ofthe cell based on the reference signal. The cell may include the BWPconfigured for the terminal device. Measurement of the quality of thecell may be performed by receiving the reference signal through anantenna of the terminal device and then calculating by using a processorof the terminal device.

In some embodiments of this application, in addition to performing theforegoing steps, the reference signal processing method provided in thisembodiment of this application may include the following steps:obtaining, by the terminal device, gap configuration information sent bythe network device, where the gap configuration information includesperiod information of a first gap and offset information of the firstgap; and determining, by the terminal device, duration of the first gapbased on the period information of the first gap and the offsetinformation of the first gap.

The network device may further configure the first gap used by thenetwork device to send the reference signal, where the first gap may bea gap that occurs periodically. The network device may configure theperiod of the first gap and the offset of the first gap. The first gapmay occur based on a time period, and the offset of the first gap is anoffset of an occurrence time of the first gap. The period of the firstgap and the offset of the first gap may be used to calculate duration ofthe first gap each time. The terminal device may receive the gapconfiguration information from the network device. After parsing the gapconfiguration information, the terminal device can determine the periodand the offset that are configured by the network device for the firstgap.

For example, the first gap occurs periodically, and the period and theoffset of the first gap can be used together to calculate timeinformation of the first gap. Specifically, the time information of thefirst gap may be directly calculated according to the following formula:SFN 1 mod T1=FLOOR(gapOffset/10)  (Formula 1)

A frame that satisfies the system frame number (System Frame Number,SFN) 1 in formula 1 may be determined as a frame of the first gap. Informula 1, SFN represents a frame number at which a measurement gapstarts. Because the time information of the first gap is calculated, SFN1 represents a start frame number of the first gap. T1 represents aperiod of the first gap, gapOffset represents an offset of the firstgap, FLOOR( ) represents a round-down operation, and mod represents amodulo operation, that is, a remainder operation. Formula 1 is used tocalculate the start frame number of the first gap. To make a calculationresult more accurate to obtain a location of a start subframe, thefollowing formula may also be used in this embodiment of thisapplication:Subframe 1=gapOffset mod 10  (Formula 2)

In formula 2, subframe 1 represents a start subframe number of the firstgap. Therefore, by using formula 1 and formula 2, the terminal devicemay calculate the start frame number and subframe numbers of the firstgap, thereby determining the start time of the first gap moreaccurately.

After the start time of the first gap is obtained, the terminal devicemay further calculate the duration of the first gap based on the starttime of the first gap and the length of the first gap. For example, theterminal device determines the duration of the first gap based on thestart time of the first gap and the time length of the first gap, wherethe length of the first gap may be a fixed length, for example, 6milliseconds (ms), or a length configured by the network device for theterminal device, for example, 3 ms.

Further, in some embodiments of this application, the obtaining, by theterminal device, quality of a cell based on the reference signal in step303 includes: determining, by the terminal device, an active BWP, wherethe active BWP is one or more BWPs in BWPs configured for the terminaldevice; after the terminal device determines the duration of the firstgap, determining, by the terminal device, whether a frequency domainlocation of the reference signal is within a bandwidth range of theactive BWP; and if the frequency domain location of the reference signalis within the bandwidth range of the active BWP, deactivating, by theterminal device, the first gap, and obtaining the quality of the cellbased on the reference signal corresponding to the active BWP.

The terminal device may first determine the BWP activated by the networkdevice, and then after the terminal device calculates the duration ofthe first gap by performing the foregoing steps, the terminal devicedetermines whether the frequency domain location of the reference signalis within the bandwidth range of the active BWP. If the frequency domainlocation of the reference signal is within the bandwidth range of theactive BWP, it indicates that the terminal device can obtain, withoutusing the first gap, the quality of the cell corresponding to thereference signal. In this case, the terminal device may deactivate thefirst gap. In this embodiment of this application, the terminal devicemay determine the active BWP, thereby reducing a gap start time.Therefore, a data transmission interruption between the network deviceand the terminal device is reduced.

In some embodiments of this application, after the determining, by theterminal device, whether a frequency domain location of the referencesignal is within a bandwidth range of the active BWP in the foregoingembodiment, the method provided in this embodiment of this applicationfurther includes the following step: if the frequency domain location ofthe reference signal is not within the bandwidth range of the activeBWP, activating, by the terminal device, the first gap, and obtainingthe quality of the cell that is in the activated first gap and thatcorresponds to the reference signal.

If the frequency domain location of the reference signal is not withinthe bandwidth range of the active BWP, it indicates that the referencesignal is not within the bandwidth range of the active BWP. In thiscase, the foregoing first gap is required. After the first gap isactivated, the terminal device may obtain the quality of the cell thatis in the activated first gap and that corresponds to the referencesignal. In this embodiment of this application, the terminal device mayactivate the first gap, thereby obtaining the quality of the cell in thefirst gap.

In some embodiments of this application, the BWP configurationinformation further includes activation time information of the BWP, andthe activation time information of the BWP includes an activation timeperiod of the BWP configured for the terminal device and an activationtime offset of the BWP configured for the terminal device. Theobtaining, by the terminal device, quality of a cell based on thereference signal, in step 303 may specifically include the followingsteps: determining, by the terminal device based on the activation timeperiod of the BWP configured for the terminal device and the activationtime offset of the BWP configured for the terminal device, a start timeof the BWP configured for the terminal device; and obtaining, by theterminal device from the start time of the BWP configured for theterminal device, the quality of the cell that is in an activation timelength configured for the terminal device and that corresponds to thereference signal.

The network device may also activate the BWP for the terminal device,and the terminal device receives the activation time information of theBWP from the network device. The activation time information of the BWPmay include at least one of the following parameters: an activation timeperiod of the at least one BWP and an activation time offset of the atleast one BWP. An activation time of the at least one BWP occursperiodically, and the activation time period and the activation timeoffset can be used together to calculate the activation time of the atleast one BWP. Specifically, a start time of the activation time may becalculated according to the following formula 3:SFN 2 mod T2=FLOOR(timeoffset/10)  (Formula 3)

In formula 3, a frame in which the activation time of the BWP occurs canbe determined by using SFN 2. In formula 3, SFN 2 represents the startframe number of the activation time, T2 represents the activation timeperiod, the activation time offset is represented by timeoffset, FLOOR() represents a round-down operation, and mod represents a modulooperation, that is, a remainder operation. Formula 3 is used tocalculate the start frame number of the activation time. To make acalculation result more accurate to obtain a location of a startsubframe, the following formula 4 may also be used in this embodiment ofthis application:Subframe 2=timeoffset mod 10  (Formula 4)

In formula 4, subframe 2 represents a start subframe number of theactivation time of the BWP. Therefore, by using formula 3 and formula 4,the start frame number and the start subframe number that are of theactivation time of the BWP can be calculated, thereby determiningactivation time information of the BWP more accurately.

In some embodiments of this application, the activation time length isincluded in the activation time information of the BWP, or theactivation time length is locally configured by the terminal device. TheBWP configuration information may further include information about theactivation time length of the at least one BWP. The terminal device maydetermine the activation duration of the at least one BWP based on thestart time of the at least one BWP and the activation time length of theat least one BWP, where the activation duration of the at least one BWPis used for data transmission between the terminal device and thenetwork device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the BWP configurationinformation further includes: a quantity of BWPs is N, N is greater thanor equal to 2, and bandwidth of each of the N BWPs includes a configuredto-be-measured reference signal; and the obtaining, by the terminaldevice, quality of a cell based on the reference signal, in step 303includes: obtaining, by the terminal device in a measurement period, Msampling results corresponding to a reference signal within a bandwidthrange of a BWP activated at a sampling moment, where M is a positiveinteger; and calculating, by the terminal device, the quality of thecell based on the M sampling results.

If the active BWP of the terminal device is changed in an activationperiod, the terminal device may obtain measurement sampling values ofdifferent reference signals. The terminal device may obtain, in themeasurement period, a plurality of sampling results of reference signalscorresponding to a plurality of BWPs, and the terminal device may usethe sampling results of the plurality of BWPs as the quality of thecell. Therefore, the terminal device can implement measurement of thequality of the cell without starting the gap.

Further, in some embodiments of the present application, thecalculating, by the terminal device, the quality of the cell based onthe M sampling results in step 303 includes: extracting, by the terminaldevice, H sampling results from the M sampling results, where H is lessthan M, the H sampling results are sampling results obtained by samplinga reference signal corresponding to a first BWP, and the first BWP is adefault BWP or an initial BWP; and calculating, by the terminal device,the quality of the cell based on the H sampling results.

The terminal device obtains a plurality of sampling results, forexample, obtains M sampling results. The terminal device may furtherselect H sampling results from the M sampling results, and the selectedsampling results may be sampling results corresponding to the defaultBWP or the initial BWP. The default BWP is a BWP returned by theterminal device within a particular period of time after the datatransmission ends, and the initial BWP is a BWP used when the terminaldevice is in initial access. The quality of the cell, calculated basedon the H sampling results corresponding to the default BWP or theinitial BWP, can better indicate real signal quality of a serving cell,thereby improving calculation accuracy of the quality of the cell.

It can be learned from description of examples in this application inthe foregoing embodiments that the terminal device obtains the referencesignal configuration information and the BWP configuration informationthat are sent by the network device; the terminal device determines theto-be-measured reference signal based on the reference signalconfiguration information, and determines, based on the BWPconfiguration information, the BWP configured for the terminal device;and the terminal device obtains the quality of the cell based on thereference signal, where the BWP configured for the terminal devicebelongs to the cell. Because the terminal device can parse the referencesignal configuration information and the BWP configuration information,the terminal device can obtain the quality of the cell based on thereference signal. Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, thereference signal can be measured without starting a measurement gap,thereby reducing activation of the measurement gap and reducing datareceiving and sending of the terminal device.

To better understand and implement the foregoing solutions in theembodiments of this application, a corresponding application scenario isused as an example below for specific description.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a BWP implementation according to anembodiment of this application. A reference signal sent by a networkdevice may be specifically an SS. There is a synchronization signal setperiodicity for SS sending. One SS set periodicity includes a pluralityof synchronization signal bursts (SS burst), and each synchronizationsignal burst includes a plurality of synchronization signal blocks (SSblock). In this embodiment of this application, one cell may include aplurality of BWPs, for example, a BWP 1 and a BWP 2. It is possible thateach BWP is configured with an SS, or it is possible that only some ofthe BWPs are configured with SSs.

The reference signal processing method provided in this embodiment ofthis application may avoid or reduce a measurement gap (which may alsobe referred to as a GAP in subsequent embodiments). In this embodimentof this application, there may be various methods for reducing thegap: 1. A terminal device determines, based on an active BWP, whether agap needs to be started. For specific content, refer to an embodimentshown in FIG. 5. 2. The network device configures a periodic activationtime period of the BWP, and the terminal device performs measurement inthis time period to avoid starting of the gap. For specific content,refer to an embodiment shown in FIG. 6. 3. The terminal device performsmeasurement by using reference signals of a plurality of active BWPs toavoid starting of the gap. For specific content, refer to an embodimentshown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a reference signal configuration manneraccording to an embodiment of the present application. The configurationmanner may mainly include the following process.

Step 10: A network device sends BWP configuration information andto-be-measured reference signal configuration information to a terminaldevice. The terminal device receives a BWP set configured by the networkdevice, and the BWP set includes one or more pieces of BWP configurationinformation. At least one BWP includes a corresponding reference signal.The reference signal is an SS or a CSI-RS. The to-be-measured referencesignal information may be an SS or CSI-RS information. The referencesignal configuration information may be a reference information type,such as an SS or a CSI-RS type. The reference signal configurationinformation may further include a period and/or a frequency domainlocation of the reference signal.

Step 20: The network device configures a gap parameter for the terminaldevice, where the gap parameter is used to assist the terminal device inmeasurement of the reference signal.

In this case, the gap parameter may include period information of a gap,and an offset of the gap. The gap occurs periodically, and a location ofthe gap can be calculated based on the offset and the period of the gaptogether. For example, it is shown in formula 1 and formula 2 in theforegoing embodiment. Details are not described herein again.

The terminal device determines the time location of the gap based on acalculated gap start time and gap length information. The gap lengthinformation may be a fixed length, for example, 6 ms, or a lengthconfigured by the network device for the terminal device, for example, 3ms.

The terminal device determines, based on the time location of the gap,that at the time location, the terminal stops data receiving and sendingfor a serving cell or an active BWP, and measures a target referencesignal in this period of time.

The gap parameter further includes reference signal associationinformation corresponding to the gap, to instruct the terminal device tomeasure, in the gap, a reference signal associated with the referencesignal association information. The reference signal associationinformation may be specifically frequency information. The referenceinformation associated with the reference signal association informationmay be a reference signal included in a frequency.

Step 30: The terminal device receives the gap parameter, and obtainsquality of a cell based on the gap parameter and the active BWP.

The terminal device needs to determine whether it is necessary tointerrupt receiving and sending for the serving cell or the active BWPat the time location of the gap. If at the time location of the gap, theactive BWP of the terminal device and a to-be-measured reference signalmeet a first predetermined condition, the terminal device determines todeactivate the gap, that is, the data receiving and sending for theserving cell or the active BWP does not need to be interrupted.Otherwise, the terminal device determines that the gap needs to beactivated, that is, the data receiving and sending for the serving cellor the active BWP needs to be interrupted.

The first predetermined condition includes: a frequency domain locationof the to-be-measured reference signal is within a bandwidth range ofthe active BWP; center frequencies of the active BWP and theto-be-measured reference signal are the same; and subcarrier spacings ofthe active BWP and the to-be-measured reference signal are the same.

Optionally, the foregoing determining is performed only when theto-be-measured reference signal belongs to reference signals associatedwith the gap.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments of this application, thegap may be configured to measure only some measurement objects, andreference signals included in these measurement objects may beconsidered as reference signals associated with the gap. If the gapneeds to be activated, the terminal device activates the gap, andmeasurement of a measurement signal that belongs to the gap is performedin the gap to obtain the quality of the cell. If the gap does not needto be activated, the terminal device directly obtains the quality of thecell.

It can be learned from the foregoing example description that theterminal device further determines the active BWP, thereby reducing aGAP start time.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another reference signal configurationmanner according to an embodiment of the present application. Theconfiguration manner mainly includes the following steps.

Step 20: A network device configures BWP configuration information andperiodic activation time information for a terminal device. The terminaldevice receives a BWP set configured by the network device, and the BWPset includes one or more pieces of BWP configuration information.

A frequency band of at least one BWP includes a to-be-measured referencesignal. The reference signal is an SS or a CSI-RS.

The network device further configures the periodic activation timeinformation for the at least one BWP. The periodic activation timeinformation may include: period information of an activation time and anoffset of the activation time. The activation time occurs periodically,and a location of the activation time can be calculated based on theperiod and the offset of the activation time together. A specificcalculation process is shown in formula 3 and formula 4 in the foregoingembodiments.

Optionally, the BWP configuration information further includesinformation about the activation time length of the at least one BWP.

Step 21: The terminal device needs to activate the BWP at the activationtime of the at least one BWP, and obtain quality of a cell of areference signal included in the BWP.

The terminal device calculates a start time point of the BWP based onthe configuration information, and determines the activation time lengthof the BWP. The activation time length may be a predefined time length,or may be an activation time length carried in the configurationinformation. The terminal device obtains, within the activation timelength, the quality of the cell corresponding to the referenceinformation.

It can be learned from the foregoing example description that a periodicactivation time of the BWP is configured, thereby ensuring a measurementtime of the terminal device in the BWP.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of still another reference signalconfiguration manner according to an embodiment of the presentapplication. The configuration manner mainly includes the followingprocess.

Step 30: A network device sends BWP configuration information andto-be-measured reference signal configuration information to a terminaldevice.

Step 31: The terminal device receives a BWP set configured by thenetwork device, and the BWP set includes one or more pieces of BWPconfiguration information.

At least one BWP includes a corresponding reference signal. Thereference signal is an SS or a CSI-RS.

The to-be-measured reference signal information may be an SS or aCSI-RS.

The reference information configuration information may be a referenceinformation type, such as an SS or a CSI-RS.

The reference signal configuration information may further include aperiod and/or a frequency domain location of the reference signal.

Step 32: The terminal device obtains quality of a cell based on thereference signal configuration information.

The terminal device receives a BWP set configured by the network device,and the BWP set includes one or more pieces of BWP configurationinformation.

When each BWP includes a corresponding reference signal, the terminaldevice obtains the quality of the cell based on reference signals of aplurality of BWPs. The reference signal is an SS or a CSI-RS.

In a measurement period, the terminal device obtains a sampling resultbased on a reference signal included in an active BWP. If the terminaldevice has a plurality of active BWPs in a measurement period, there maybe measurement samples of a plurality of BWPs. The terminal deviceobtains the quality of the cell based on these samples. The terminaldevice may have N sampling values in this period. If M sampling valuesare needed to calculate the quality of the cell, and M is less than orequal to N, M may be selected from N according to the following rules:default BWP and initial BWP sampling preference. A default BWP isconfigured by the network device for the terminal device, and an initialBWP is a BWP used when the terminal device is in initial access.

The terminal device performs average calculation on selected samplingresults to obtain the quality of the cell.

For example, if four times of measurement samplings are performed in themeasurement period to obtain four sampling results, the terminal deviceperforms average calculation on these measurement results and uses theaverage result as the quality of the cell in this period.

It can be learned from the foregoing example description thatmeasurement results of a plurality of BWPs are used as the quality ofthe cell, thereby reducing use of a gap.

This embodiment of this application may further resolve the followingproblem: In combination with a blacklist and a whitelist that correspondto a measurement event and a blacklist and a whitelist that are of ameasurement object level, a BWP or a neighboring cell reference signalthat needs to be measured by the terminal device and that is included ina serving cell is determined. A measurement event configuration BWPindication is used to determine that the measurement event is for theBWP in the serving cell. The network device may specify a measurementquantity for beam selection when cell measurement result calculation andbeam reporting are performed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of yet another reference signalconfiguration manner according to an embodiment of the presentapplication. The configuration manner mainly includes the followingprocess.

Step 40: A network device configures to-be-measured reference signalconfiguration information for a terminal device. The to-be-measuredreference signal information may be an SS or a CSI-RS.

The to-be-measured reference information configuration information isincluded in a measurement object, and a measurement object configurationmay include at least one or a combination of the followingconfigurations, for example: a type of a to-be-measured referencesignal, for example an SS or a CSI-RS; and blacklist or whitelistinformation, where if the network device configures a blacklist for theterminal device, when the measurement object is measured, the terminaldevice ignores a cell in the blacklist; or if the network deviceconfigures a whitelist for the terminal device, when the measurementobject is measured, the terminal device considers only a cell in thewhitelist, and does not consider other cells.

The network device further configures a measurement evaluation parameterfor the terminal device, where the measurement evaluation parameterincludes at least one or a combination of the following configurationinformation: a maximum beam quantity N used for cell measurement resultcalculation (a cell measurement result is obtained by combining beammeasurement results), where optionally, if the maximum beam quantity isnot configured, the terminal device may use N=1 by default; ameasurement threshold (H) used for cell measurement result calculation;a measurement quantity (Q) for beam sequencing, where, for example, themeasurement quantity for beam sequencing may be a reference signalreceived power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or asignal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of a beam; currently,both calculating the cell measurement result based on the beammeasurement results or reporting the beam measurement results need toperform beam sequencing, to select a best beam set; however, whensequencing is performed based on the RSRP, the RSRQ, or the SINR, beamsincluded in the best beam set may be changed; and in this case, if themeasurement quantity used for the sequencing is specified, a beam setused for calculating the cell measurement result or a beam setcorresponding to beam reporting is uniquely determined; a measurementquantity (M) that needs to be reported: one or any combination of theRSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR; and a measurement quantity (T) fortriggering a measurement event that is used by the terminal device todetermine a measurement quantity on which measurement event triggeringis based.

The measurement quantity (Q) for beam sequencing, the measurementquantity (T) for triggering a measurement event, and the measurementquantity (M) that needs to be reported are not limited to beingconfigured in the measurement object, and may alternatively be sent, bythe network device through measurement configuration, to the terminaldevice to which Q, T, and M belong. For example, Q, T, and M are carriedin a measurement and reporting configuration, a measurement quantityconfiguration, or a measurement trigger configuration. No limitation isimposed in this disclosure.

Step 41: The network device configures measurement trigger informationfor the terminal device, where the measurement trigger informationincludes event trigger information or periodic measurement configurationinformation, the event trigger information is used to instruct theterminal device to trigger measurement and reporting based on ato-be-measured reference signal, and the periodic measurementconfiguration information is used to instruct the terminal device toperform measurement and reporting based on a period.

The measurement event is used for comparing a measurement target and ameasurement reference. When a comparison result satisfies apredetermined condition, it is determined that the measurement resultneeds to be reported. The measurement target may be a serving cell or aneighboring cell. The measurement reference may be a measurement signalthreshold or a measurement result on a serving cell side. The terminaldevice needs to first determine the measurement result of the cellcorresponding to the measurement target and then determine whether themeasurement event is triggered. For example, if the measurement targetis a cell included in a measurement object 1, the terminal devicesearches for the cell on a frequency corresponding to the measurementobject 1, and compares the cell measurement result with the measurementreference. If the cell measurement result is greater than or less thanthe measurement reference, the measurement event is triggered.

Optionally, the event trigger information further includes a blacklistor a whitelist for the measurement event.

Step 42: The terminal device receives the measurement configurationinformation, where the measurement configuration information includesthe reference signal configuration, the measurement evaluationparameter, and the measurement trigger information, and the terminaldevice performs measurement and reporting based on the reference signalconfiguration, the measurement evaluation parameter, and the measurementtrigger information.

The terminal device determines one or a combination of the followingparameters based on the measurement configuration information: a type ofa to-be-measured reference signal, for example, an SS or a CSI-RS; amaximum beam quantity N used for cell measurement result calculation (acell measurement result is obtained by combining beam measurementresults): Optionally, if the maximum beam quantity is not configured,the terminal device may use N=1 by default; a measurement threshold (H)used for cell measurement result calculation; a measurement quantity (Q)for beam sequencing; a measurement quantity (M) that needs to bereported; and a measurement quantity (T) for triggering a measurementevent.

The terminal device performs measurement and reporting based on themeasurement configuration parameter.

Optionally, when the cell of the measurement target is measured,to-be-measured cells need to be determined based on the blacklist orwhitelist included in the measurement object. If a configuration of themeasurement event includes configuration of the blacklist or thewhitelist, the terminal device needs to finally determine, based on theblacklist or whitelist in the measurement object and the blacklist orwhitelist in the measurement event, a blacklist or whitelist cell to beused.

Specifically, when the measurement event includes a whitelist, awhitelist in the measurement object is ignored, and only a whitelistspecified by the measurement event is used.

When the measurement event includes a blacklist, a blacklist in themeasurement object and a blacklist in the measurement event are combinedfor use.

The terminal device performs measurement based on the finally determinedblacklist or whitelist, obtains quality of a cell corresponding to themeasurement target, and determines whether to trigger the measurementevent based on comparison between the quality of the cell and ameasurement source. For different measurement events, there may bedifferent blacklists and whitelists. For a same measurement object, forexample, an event 1 may be only for a reference signal that is not of alocal cell, and an event 2 may be only for a reference signal of thelocal cell.

Optionally, when the terminal device performs measurement of the cell ofthe measurement target, the cell measurement result needs to becalculated based on beams of the cell. The terminal device firstperforms cell measurement result calculation based on the parametersconfigured by the network device, including: determining, by theterminal device based on N, H, and Q, beams used to calculate the cellmeasurement result.

The terminal device sequences the beams in the cell based on ameasurement quantity (for example, the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR)specified by Q.

The beam ranked first is used as a first beam, and beams whosemeasurement results are greater than the threshold H and whose totalquantity is less than or equal to (N−1) are selected from the otherbeams as a second beam set.

The cell measurement result is calculated by using the second beam setbased on a quantity (for example, one or any combination of the RSRQ,the RSRP, or the SINR) specified in a report quantity.

If N=1, the measurement result of the first beam is used as the qualityof the cell. If N>1, the first beam and the second beam set are averagedas the quality of the cell.

Optionally, when reporting a measurement result, the terminal deviceneeds to determine a set of to-be-reported beams. The terminal devicesequences the beams in the cell based on a measurement quantity (forexample, the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR) specified by Q or T, andreports the beam set based on a sequencing result.

Specifically, the terminal device determines to report, based on thethreshold H and a maximum quantity X of reported beams, beams whosemeasurement quantity is greater than the threshold H and whose quantityis less than or equal to X. X is a reporting quantity specified by thenetwork device for the terminal device. The terminal device reports, toa network device side, a measurement result corresponding to each beam.

For example, the measurement quantity specified by Q or T is RSRQ, H=−98dbm, and X=3. If there are five beams measured by the terminal device,the terminal device sequences the five beams based on an RSRQmeasurement result, where there are two beams whose measurement resultsare greater than −98, and the best two beams are used as beams reportedto a set. If there are four beams whose measurement results are greaterthan −98, the best three beams are selected and reported. If measurementresults of all beams are below the threshold −98, the terminal devicereports only the best beam.

Optionally, the terminal device first adds, based on a measurementquantity specified by the reported measurement quantity (M), a best beamcorresponding to each measurement quantity to the set of the reportedbeams, and then sequences the remaining beams based on the measurementquantity specified by Q or T, and determines, based on a sequencingresult, beams that are in the remaining beams and that are to be placedin the set of the reported beams.

Optionally, that the terminal device sequences the beams in the cellbased on the measurement quantity (for example, the RSRQ, the RSRP, orthe SINR) specified by Q or T may further include: selecting, by theterminal device, T and Q based on a measurement trigger type. Forexample, for an event measurement result, the terminal device sequencesto-be-reported beams based on T, and for periodic measurement, theterminal device sequences to-be-reported beams based on Q.

Optionally, the terminal device sequences the beams in the cell based ona configuration of the reported measurement quantity (M). If theterminal device determines that the measurement quantity (M) includesonly one measurement quantity, the terminal device performs beamsequencing based on the measurement quantity, and based on a beamsequencing result, calculates the quality of the cell or determines ato-be-reported beam set.

In this embodiment, a measurement quantity used for beam sequencing isspecified, thereby ensuring that the terminal device has a consistentsequencing criterion during beam sequencing. In addition, a blacklistand a whitelist are configured for a measurement event, so thatdifferent measurement events may be configured with different blacklistsand whitelists.

It should be noted that, for brief description, the foregoing methodembodiments are represented as a series of actions. However, a personskilled in the art should know that this application is not limited tothe described order of the actions because according to thisapplication, some steps may be performed in other orders orsimultaneously. The person skilled in the art should also know that therelated actions and modules described in this disclosure are notnecessarily required by this application.

To better implement the foregoing solutions in this embodiment of thisapplication, a related apparatus configured to implement the foregoingsolutions is further provided below.

FIG. 9 shows a network device 900 according to an embodiment of thisapplication. The network device 900 may include a processing module 901and a sending module 902.

The processing module 901 is configured to determine a to-be-measuredreference signal configured for a terminal device and at least onebandwidth part BWP configured for the terminal device, where a frequencydomain location of the reference signal is within a bandwidth range ofthe at least one BWP.

The processing module 901 is further configured to generate referencesignal configuration information based on the to-be-measured referencesignal, and generate BWP configuration information based on the at leastone BWP.

The sending module 902 is configured to send the reference signalconfiguration information and the BWP configuration information to theterminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processing module901 is further configured to determine a period of a first gap and anoffset of the first gap that are configured for the terminal device,where the first gap is used by the network device to send the referencesignal.

The sending module 902 is further configured to send gap configurationinformation to the terminal device, where the gap configurationinformation includes the period of the first gap and the offset of thefirst gap.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processing module901 is configured to: calculate a start time of the first gap based onthe period of the first gap and the offset of the first gap; calculateduration of the first gap based on the start time of the first gap and alength of the first gap; determine whether the frequency domain locationof the reference signal is within a bandwidth range of an active BWP inthe duration of the first gap; and if the frequency domain location ofthe reference signal is within the bandwidth range of the active BWP inthe duration of the first gap, determine to deactivate the first gap.

In some embodiments of the present application, the reference signalconfiguration information includes at least one of the followingparameters: a type parameter of the reference signal, a period parameterof the reference signal, and a frequency domain location parameter ofthe reference signal.

In some embodiments of the present application, the BWP configurationinformation includes: frequency information of the at least one BWP andbandwidth information of the at least one BWP.

In some embodiments of the present application, the BWP configurationinformation includes a correspondence between the reference signal andthe at least one BWP.

In some embodiments of the present application, the BWP configurationinformation includes activation time information of the BWP; and theactivation time information of the BWP includes at least one of thefollowing parameters: an activation time period of the at least one BWPand an activation time offset of the at least one BWP.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processing module901 is configured to calculate a start time of the at least one BWPbased on the activation time period of the at least one BWP and theactivation time offset of the at least one BWP.

The processing module 901 is further configured to determine activationduration of the at least one BWP based on the start time of the at leastone BWP and an activation time length of the at least one BWP, where theactivation duration of the at least one BWP is used for datatransmission between the network device and the terminal device.

FIG. 10 shows a terminal device 1000 according to an embodiment of thisapplication. The terminal device 1000 may include a receiving module1001 and a processing module 1002.

The receiving module tool is configured to obtain reference signalconfiguration information and bandwidth part BWP configurationinformation that are sent by a network device.

The processing module 1002 is configured to determine a to-be-measuredreference signal based on the reference signal configurationinformation, and determine, based on the BWP configuration information,a BWP configured for the terminal device.

The processing module 1002 is configured to obtain quality of a cellbased on the reference signal, where the BWP configured for the terminaldevice belongs to the cell.

In some embodiments of the present application, the receiving module1001 is further configured to obtain gap configuration information sentby the network device, where the gap configuration information includesperiod information of a first gap and offset information of the firstgap.

The processing module 1002 is further configured to determine durationof the first gap based on the period information of the first gap andthe offset information of the first gap.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processing module1002 is configured to: determine an active BWP, where the active BWP isone or more BWPs in BWPs configured for the terminal device; after theterminal device determines the duration of the first gap, determinewhether a frequency domain location of the reference signal is within abandwidth range of the active BWP; and if the frequency domain locationof the reference signal is within the bandwidth range of the active BWP,deactivate the first gap, and obtain the quality of the cell based onthe reference signal corresponding to the active BWP.

In some embodiments of the present application, after determiningwhether the frequency domain location of the reference signal is withinthe bandwidth range of the active BWP, the processing module 1002 isconfigured to: if the frequency domain location of the reference signalis not within the bandwidth range of the active BWP, activate the firstgap; and obtain the quality of the cell that is in the activated firstgap and that corresponds to the reference signal.

In some embodiments of the present application, the BWP configurationinformation further includes activation time information of the BWP, andthe activation time information of the BWP includes an activation timeperiod of the BWP configured for the terminal device and an activationtime offset of the BWP configured for the terminal device. Theprocessing module 1002 is configured to: determine, based on theactivation time period of the BWP configured for the terminal device andthe activation time offset of the BWP configured for the terminaldevice, a start time of the BWP configured for the terminal device; andobtain, from the start time of the BWP configured for the terminaldevice, the quality of the cell that is in an activation time lengthconfigured for the terminal device and that corresponds to the referencesignal.

In some embodiments of the present application, the activation timelength is included in the activation time information of the BWP, or theactivation time length is locally configured by the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the BWP configurationinformation further includes: when a quantity of BWPs is N and N isgreater than or equal to 2, bandwidth of each of the N BWPs includes aconfigured to-be-measured reference signal. The processing module 1002is specifically configured to: obtain, in a measurement period, Msampling results corresponding to a reference signal within a bandwidthrange of a BWP activated at a sampling moment, where M is a positiveinteger; and calculate the quality of the cell based on the M samplingresults.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processing module1002 is specifically configured to: extract H sampling results from theM sampling results, where H is less than M, the H sampling results aresampling results obtained by sampling a reference signal correspondingto a first BWP, and the first BWP is a default BWP or an initial BWP;and calculate the quality of the cell based on the H sampling results.

It can be learned from description of examples in this application inthe foregoing embodiments that the terminal device obtains the referencesignal configuration information and the BWP configuration informationthat are sent by the network device; the terminal device determines theto-be-measured reference signal based on the reference signalconfiguration information, and determines, based on the BWPconfiguration information, the BWP configured for the terminal device;and the terminal device obtains the quality of the cell based on thereference signal, where the BWP configured for the terminal devicebelongs to the cell. Because the terminal device can parse the referencesignal configuration information and the BWP configuration information,the terminal device can obtain, based on the BWP configured for theterminal device, the quality of the cell corresponding to the referencesignal. Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, the referencesignal can be measured without starting a measurement gap, therebyreducing activation of the measurement gap and reducing data receivingand sending of the terminal device.

It should be noted that content such as information exchange between themodules/units of the apparatus and the execution processes thereof isbased on the same idea as the method embodiments of this application,and produces the same technical effects as the method embodiments ofthis application. For the specific content, refer to the foregoingdescription in the method embodiments of this application, and thedetails are not described herein again.

An embodiment of this application further provides a computer storagemedium, where the computer storage medium stores a program and theprogram performs some or all of steps recorded in the foregoing methodembodiments.

Another network device provided in the embodiments of this applicationis described below. As shown in FIG. 11, the network device 1100includes: a receiver 1101, a transmitter 1102, a processor 1103, and amemory 1104 (where there may be one or more processors 1103 in thenetwork device 1100, and one processor is used as an example in FIG.11). In some embodiments of this application, the receiver 1101, thetransmitter 1102, the processor 1103, and the memory 1104 may beconnected with each other.

The memory 1104 may include a read-only memory and a random accessmemory, and provide an instruction and data to the processor 1103. Apart of the memory 1104 may further include a nonvolatile random accessmemory (English: Nonvolatile Random Access Memory, NVRAM for short). Thememory 1104 stores an operating system and operating instructions, andan executable module or a data structure, or a subset or an extended setthereof, where the operating instructions may include various operatinginstructions and are used to implement various operations. The operatingsystem may include various system programs, which are used to implementvarious basic services and process a hardware-based task.

The processor 1103 controls operations of the network device. Theprocessor 1103 may also be referred to as a central processing unit(English: Central Processing Unit, CPU for short). In a specificapplication, components of the network device are coupled together byusing a bus system. In addition to a data bus, the bus system mayfurther include a power bus, a control bus, a status signal bus, and thelike. However, for clear description, various buses are marked as thebus system in the figure.

The method disclosed in the foregoing embodiments of this applicationmay be applied to the processor 1103, or implemented by the processor1103. The processor 1103 may be an integrated circuit chip and has asignal processing capability. In an implementation process, the steps ofthe method may be implemented by integrated logical circuits of hardwarein the processor 1103 or by instructions of software. The foregoingprocessor 1103 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signalprocessor (English: digital signal processor, DSP for short), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (English: Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit, ASIC for short), a field-programmable gate array(English: Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA for short) or anotherprogrammable logical device, a discrete gate or a transistor logicaldevice, or a discrete hardware assembly. It may implement or perform themethods, the steps, and logical block diagrams that are disclosed in theembodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor orthe like. Steps of the methods disclosed with reference to theembodiments of this application may be directly executed andaccomplished by using a hardware decoding processor, or may be executedand accomplished by using a combination of hardware and software modulesin the decoding processor. A software module may be located in a maturestorage medium in the art, such as a random access memory, a flashmemory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, anelectrically erasable programmable memory, a register, or the like. Thestorage medium is located in the memory 1104, and the processor 1103reads information in the memory 1104 and completes the steps in theforegoing methods in combination with hardware of the processor.

The receiver 1101 may be configured to receive input digital orcharacter information, and generate a signal input related to a relatedsetting and functional control of the network device. The transmitter1102 may include a display device, for example, a display screen, andmay be configured to output digital or character information by using anexternal interface.

In this embodiment of this application, the processor 1103 is configuredto perform the reference signal processing method performed on a networkdevice side in the foregoing embodiments.

Another terminal device provided in the embodiments of this applicationis described below. As shown in FIG. 12, the terminal device 1200includes: a receiver 1201, a transmitter 1202, a processor 1203, and amemory 1204 (where there may be one or more processors 1203 in theterminal device 1200, and one processor is used as an example in FIG.12). In some embodiments of this application, the receiver 1201, thetransmitter 1202, the processor 1203, and the memory 1204 may beconnected with each other.

The memory 1204 may include a read-only memory and a random accessmemory, and provide an instruction and data to the processor 1203. Apart of the memory 1204 may further include an NVRAM. The memory 1204stores an operating system and operating instructions, and an executablemodule or a data structure, or a subset or an extended set thereof,where the operating instructions may include various operatinginstructions and are used to implement various operations. The operatingsystem may include various system programs, which are used to implementvarious basic services and process a hardware-based task.

The processor 1203 controls operations of the terminal device, and theprocessor 1203 may also be referred to as a CPU. In a specificapplication, components of the terminal device are coupled together byusing a bus system. In addition to a data bus, the bus system mayfurther include a power bus, a control bus, a status signal bus, and thelike. However, for clear description, various buses are marked as thebus system in the figure.

The method disclosed in the foregoing embodiments of this applicationmay be applied to the processor 1203, or implemented by the processor1203. The processor 1203 may be an integrated circuit chip and has asignal processing capability. In an implementation process, steps in theforegoing methods can be implemented by using a hardware integratedlogical circuit in the processor 1203, or by using instructions in aform of software. The processor 1203 may be a general-purpose processor,a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or another programmable logical device, adiscrete gate or a transistor logical device, or a discrete hardwareassembly. It may implement or perform the methods, the steps, andlogical block diagrams that are disclosed in the embodiments of thisapplication. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, orthe processor may be any conventional processor or the like. Steps ofthe methods disclosed with reference to the embodiments of thisapplication may be directly executed and accomplished by using ahardware decoding processor, or may be executed and accomplished byusing a combination of hardware and software modules in the decodingprocessor. A software module may be located in a mature storage mediumin the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-onlymemory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasableprogrammable memory, a register, or the like. The storage medium islocated in the memory 1204, and a processor 1203 reads information inthe memory 1204 and completes the steps in the foregoing methods incombination with hardware of the processor.

In this embodiment of this application, the processor 1203 is configuredto perform the foregoing method performed on a terminal device side.

In another possible design, when the apparatus is a chip in a terminal,the chip includes a processing unit and a communications unit, where theprocessing unit may be, for example, a processor, and the communicationsunit may be, for example, an input/output interface, a pin, or acircuit. The processing unit may execute a computer executableinstruction stored in a storage unit, to enable the chip in the terminalto perform the reference signal processing method according to any oneof the possible designs. Optionally, the storage unit may be a storageunit in the chip, such as a register or a buffer, or the storage unitmay be a storage unit in the terminal but outside the chip, such as aread-only memory (read-only memory, ROM), another type of static storagedevice capable of storing static information and instructions, or arandom access memory (random access memory, RAM).

Any one of the foregoing mentioned processors may be a general-purposecentral processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specificintegrated circuit (application-specific integrated circuit, ASIC), orone or more integrated circuits configured to control program executionof the reference signal processing method.

In addition, it should be noted that the described apparatus embodimentis merely an example. The units described as separate parts may or maynot be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may notbe physical units, may be located in one position, or may be distributedon a plurality of network units. Some or all the modules may be selectedbased on actual needs to achieve the objectives of the solutions of theembodiments. In addition, in the accompanying drawings of the apparatusembodiments provided in this application, connection relationshipsbetween modules indicate that the modules have communication connectionswith each other, which may be specifically implemented as one or morecommunications buses or signal cables.

Based on the description of the foregoing implementations, a personskilled in the art may clearly understand that this application may beimplemented by software in addition to necessary general-purposehardware, or by special-purpose hardware, including a special-purposeintegrated circuit, a special-purpose CPU, a special-purpose memory, aspecial-purpose component, and the like. Generally, any function thatcan be performed by a computer program can be easily implemented byusing corresponding hardware. In addition, a specific hardware structureused to achieve a same function may be of various forms, for example, ina form of an analog circuit, a digital circuit, a special-purposecircuit, or the like. However, as for this application, software programimplementation is a better implementation in most cases. Based on suchan understanding, the technical solutions of this applicationessentially or the part contributing to the current system may beimplemented in a form of a software product. The software product isstored in a readable storage medium, such as a floppy disk, a USB flashdrive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM, Read-OnlyMemory), a random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), a magneticdisk, or an optical disc of a computer, and includes a plurality ofinstructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personalcomputer, a server, a network device, or the like) to perform themethods described in the embodiments of this application.

All or some of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented by usingsoftware, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When softwareis used to implement the embodiments, the embodiments may be implementedcompletely or partially in a form of a computer program product.

The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions.When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on thecomputer, the procedure or functions according to the embodiments ofthis application are all or partially generated. The computer may be ageneral-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computernetwork, or another programmable apparatus. The computer instructionsmay be stored in a computer readable storage medium or may betransmitted from a computer readable storage medium to another computerreadable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may betransmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to anotherwebsite, computer, server, or data center in a wired (for example, acoaxial cable, an optical fiber, or a digital subscriber line (DSL)) orwireless (for example, infrared, radio, or microwave) manner. Thecomputer readable storage medium may be any usable medium accessible bya computer, or a data storage device, such as a server or a data center,integrating one or more usable media. The usable medium may be amagnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetictape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), a semiconductor medium(for example, a solid-state drive (SSD)), or the like.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a device, ameasurement evaluation parameter, and measurement trigger information;wherein the measurement evaluation parameter comprises a measurementquantity for beam sorting, and a measurement quantity for an eventmeasurement, and the measurement trigger information indicates eventtrigger information or periodic measurement configuration information,the event trigger information instructs the device to performmeasurement and reporting for the event measurement, and the periodicmeasurement configuration information instructs the device to performmeasurement and reporting for a periodic measurement; and determiningwhether the measurement trigger information indicates the event triggerinformation or the periodic measurement configuration information; inresponse to determining that the measurement trigger informationindicates the event trigger information, sorting, by the device for theevent measurement, beams according to the measurement quantity for theevent measurement; and in response to determining that the measurementtrigger information indicates the periodic measurement configurationinformation, sorting, by the device for the periodic measurement, thebeams according to the measurement quantity for beam sorting, with thesorting comprising: determining, by the device, that the measurementquantity for beam sorting comprises only one of reference signalreceived power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or asignal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR); and in response todetermining that the measurement quantity for beam sorting comprisesonly one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR, sorting, by the device, thebeams according to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR. 2.The method according to claim 1, wherein sorting, by the device, thebeams according to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINRcomprises: performing beam sorting according to the only one of theRSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR; and determining a to be reported beam setaccording to a beam sorting result of performing the beam sortingaccording to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising: after sorting, by thedevice for the event measurement, the beams according to the measurementquantity for the event measurement, reporting a beam set according to asorting result of the sorting.
 4. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: reporting, according to a threshold and a maximumquantity of reported beams, a number of beams of the beams havingmeasurement quantities greater than the threshold, with the number ofbeams less than or equal to the maximum quantity of reported beams.
 5. Adevice, comprising: a non-transitory memory storing executableinstructions; and a processer configured to execute the executableinstructions to perform operations comprising: receiving a measurementevaluation parameter, and measurement trigger information; wherein themeasurement evaluation parameter comprises a measurement quantity forbeam sorting and a measurement quantity for an event measurement, andthe measurement trigger information indicates event trigger informationor periodic measurement configuration information, the event triggerinformation instructs the device to perform measurement and reportingfor the event measurement, and the periodic measurement configurationinformation instructs the device to perform measurement and reportingfor a periodic measurement; and determining whether the measurementtrigger information indicates the event trigger information or theperiodic measurement configuration information; in response todetermining that the measurement trigger information indicates the eventtrigger information, sorting, by the device for the event measurement,beams according to the measurement quantity for the event measurement;and in response to determining that the measurement trigger informationindicates the periodic measurement configuration information, sorting,by the device for the periodic measurement, the beams according to themeasurement quantity for beam sorting, with the sorting comprising:determining that the measurement quantity for beam sorting comprisesonly one of reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signalreceived quality (RSRQ), or a signal to interference plus noise ratio(SINR); and in response to determining that the measurement quantity forbeam sorting comprises only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR,sorting the beams according to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, orthe SINR.
 6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the operation ofsorting the beams according to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, orthe SINR comprises: performing beam sorting according to the only one ofthe RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR; and determining a to be reported beamset according to a beam sorting result of performing the beam sortingaccording to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR.
 7. Thedevice according to claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:after the operation of sorting, for the event measurement, the beamsaccording to the measurement quantity for the event measurement,reporting a beam set according to a sorting result of the sorting. 8.The device according to claim 5, wherein the operations furthercomprise: reporting, according to a threshold and a maximum quantity ofreported beams, a number of beams of the beams having measurementquantities greater than the threshold, with the number of beams lessthan or equal to the maximum quantity of reported beams.
 9. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising aninstruction, wherein when the instruction runs on a device, the deviceperforms operations comprising: receiving a measurement evaluationparameter, and measurement trigger information; wherein the measurementevaluation parameter comprises a measurement quantity for beam sortingand a measurement quantity for triggering a measurement event, and themeasurement trigger information indicates event trigger information orperiodic measurement configuration information, the event triggerinformation instructs the device to Perform measurement and reportingfor the event measurement, and the periodic measurement configurationinformation instructs the device to perform measurement and reportingfor a periodic measurement; and determining whether the measurementtrigger information indicates the event trigger information or theperiodic measurement configuration information; in response todetermining that the measurement trigger information indicates the eventtrigger information, sorting, by the device for the event measurement,beams according to the measurement quantity for the event measurement;and in response to determining that the measurement trigger informationindicates the periodic measurement configuration information, sorting,by the device for the periodic measurement, the beams according to themeasurement quantity for beam sorting, with the sorting comprising:determining that the measurement quantity for beam sorting comprisesonly one of reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signalreceived quality (RSRQ), or a signal to interference plus noise ratio(SINR); and in response to determining that the measurement quantity forbeam sorting comprises only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR,sorting the beams according to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, orthe SINR.
 10. The non-transitory computer readable storage mediumaccording to claim 9, wherein the operation of sorting, by the device,the beams according to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINRcomprises: performing beam sorting according to the only one of theRSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR; and determining a to be reported beam setaccording to a beam sorting result of performing the beam sortingaccording to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 9,wherein the operations further comprise: after the operation of sorting,for the event measurement, the beams according to the measurementquantity for the event measurement, reporting a beam set according to asorting result of the sorting.
 12. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium according to claim 9, wherein the operations furthercomprises: reporting, according to a threshold and a maximum quantity ofreported beams, a number of beams of the beams in the cell havingmeasurement quantities greater than the threshold, with the number ofbeams less than or equal to the maximum quantity of reported beams. 13.An apparatus, comprising: a transceiver, configured to receive ameasurement evaluation parameter, and measurement trigger information;wherein the measurement evaluation parameter comprises a measurementquantity for beam sorting, or a measurement quantity for triggering ameasurement event, and the measurement trigger information indicatesevent trigger information or periodic measurement configurationinformation, the event trigger information instructs the apparatus toperform measurement and reporting for the event measurement, and theperiodic measurement configuration information instructs the apparatusto perform measurement and reporting for a periodic measurement; and aprocessor, configured to perform following operations: determiningwhether the measurement trigger information indicates the event triggerinformation or the periodic measurement configuration information; inresponse to determining that the measurement trigger informationindicates the event trigger information, sorting, for the eventmeasurement, beams according to the measurement quantity for the eventmeasurement; and in response to determining that the measurement triggerinformation indicates the periodic measurement configurationinformation, sorting, for the periodic measurement, the beams accordingto the measurement quantity for beam sorting, with the sortingcomprising: determining that the measurement quantity for beam sortingcomprises only one of reference signal received power (RSRP), referencesignal received quality (RSRQ), or a signal to interference plus noiseratio (SINR); and in response to determining that the measurementquantity for beam sorting comprises only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, orthe SINR, sorting the beams according to the only one of the RSRQ, theRSRP, or the SINR.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: perform beam sorting according tothe only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or the SINR; and determine a to bereported beam set according to a beam sorting result of performing thebeam sorting according to the only one of the RSRQ, the RSRP, or theSINR.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: after the operation of sorting, for the eventmeasurement, the beams according to the measurement quantity for theevent measurement, report, through the transceiver, a beam set accordingto the sorting.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: report, through the transceiveraccording to a threshold and a maximum quantity of reported beams, anumber of beams of the beams having measurement quantities greater thanthe threshold, with the number of beams less than or equal to themaximum quantity of reported beams.